SteamWorld Heist 2 was provided by Thunderful Publishing for review. Thank you!
The SteamWorld series is one of the more unique series that exist. Almost every entry fits into a completely different genre. SteamWorld Dig is a Metroidvania, SteamWorld Build is a city-management title, SteamWorld Quest is a card game battler, and SteamWorld Heist is a turn-based strategy. SteamWorld Heist is a fantastic game, too, and while I enjoyed it with a sequel, I was hoping for a refined gameplay loop, and I got it.
SteamWorld Heist 2's gameplay is extremely addicting and one of the reasons I would keep returning to it. You will assemble a crew of robots and head off into the seas to accomplish different strategic missions. Each robot in your crew has a job, influencing the guns they use and the perks they can utilize. You can find different jobs where you will select a set number of your crew to participate in different battles with different objectives. Each crew member can do 1 job daily, and completing the objectives gets you points. With those points, you can get special items when you end your day.
The game utilizes turn-based combat in these missions, so you can make a set number of moves each turn. This includes moving a specific number of space and using your different abilities. Unlike most other turn-based games, you can aim your gun, and with the bullet able to bounce off of walls, you can set up some incredible shots. I loved using the Sniper class/guns, and I could set up incredible shots where I took out 4 different enemies thanks to bouncing the bullets off the wall. It felt so satisfying. This also means that headshots do more damage, and you can make sure bullets wrap around enemies with a shield and damage them from behind.
The class system in the game is unique, too. As you play, you will gain experience to level up these classes, and when you level up, you get more perks. Instead of each robot having only one job, SteamWorld Heist 2 encourages you to switch up jobs for the crew. If you do, you can use a currency called Cogs to purchase perks from other previously unlocked jobs. It's super cool to utilize the perks from each job the more you play, and it gives us a chance to customize our robots further than just their original class. You can also equip different secondary items, which give you smaller weapons or increased stats, and customize the hat you will wear. You can get more hats by shooting them off enemies and picking them up.
When you aren't in missions, you will sail across the sea, fighting ships and docking at bases to get new crew members, equipment, and upgrades for your team. You can get more of the currency and equipment to purchase these by picking up loot in missions or getting some wreckage you find on the sea. There is a lot of loot to find and play around with, so there's no shortage of ways to customize your team.
The ship-to-ship combat is a nice change of pace from the regular missions, but I didn't enjoy it as much initially. You start with two guns on each side of your ship and have to spin around to get the ship in your sights. These guns need to reload when they are out, which means you have to run away temporarily so you don't get fully destroyed. The combat does get a little better as you upgrade and get new weapons, but I still didn't care for it compared to the addicting main strategic missions. Some ships may drop more wreckage to get more currency, but some don't at all, and since you don't get any experience, it sometimes feels a bit useless. I would have rather had more missions littered than the moments of sailing around.
There are little spots of downtime to buy new equipment and recruit new team members by going to different bars around the world. These offer moments of reprieve away from sailing and combat while also giving me the opportunity to choose the crew that I want to recruit.
SteamWorld Heist 2 is a gorgeous experience and one I consistently enjoyed looking at. The hand-crafted levels and the overworld you sail on pop with color, and the Steampunk aesthetic shines in this entry, just like all the rest in the series. Everything just fits super well, and with the great soundtrack, it's easy to get lost in everything shown on the screen.
The narrative starts interesting but tends to trail off as you keep playing. You are Captain Quincy Leeway, a sailor who wants to escape the shadow of his famous mother. You will try to find the source of whatever is poisoning the water with his crew. I didn't care much for the story outside of the overall goal, and even still, I found myself getting more into the battles and grinding versus why I was doing it. It's a competent story, not terrible, but it is easily forgettable without memorable characters or shocking twists.
To make things even better, the game is near flawless on the Steam Deck.
This will be a very short section because SteamWorld Heist 2 is perfect on the Steam Deck! Without any changes, the game runs at a flawless 60 FPS with around 8W battery drain, giving us over 7 hours of playtime on one charge of the OLED Steam Deck! And with the great controller support, this feels right at home for portable play, and I can't recommend it enough.
The only problem for OLED Steam Decks is the game caps at 60 FPS. So, you will have to change your framerate/refresh rate to 60 for the smoothest gameplay, but this is minor overall.
The game allows you to change the rumble, camera and aim speed, and audio sliders, as well as toggling screen shakes, showing the minimap, confirming job changes, and pressing instead of holding for actions that require holding down a button (like boosting your ship). You can also change keybindings and your language.
The game does support 16:10 resolutions, has controller/gamepad support, and has cloud saves. There are no HDR settings.
SteamWorld Heist 2 is an incredibly addicting title that feels right at home on the Steam Deck. The turn-based strategy feels fantastic to play and more engaging, thanks to being able to aim your shots. The flexible job system adds another strategic layer to the experience, and coupled with the great visuals and music, it's hard not to love it. The story may not be as memorable, and the ship combat may not be great initially, but the entire package is worth your time. And with how great it runs on the Steam Deck, this is an easy recommendation for your portable library!
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
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SteamWorld Heist 2 is an incredible sequel that refines the turn-based combat and is quite addicting, especially when playing on the Steam Deck.
